Strong Mayor Power: Councillors Object
By John Swartz
We the undersigned members of Orillia City Council strongly oppose Mayor McIsaac’s request for “Strong Mayor Powers,” and his decision to use those powers to subvert and reverse the decision of Council to hire Mr. Trevor Lee as CAO of the City of Orillia.
During a time of unprecedented upheaval, Mayor McIsaac has chosen to centralize and consolidate authority, rather than to consult and collaborate with Council.
Special Powers and Duties for the Head of Council under section 284.2 of the Municipal Act are not necessary to respond to the State of Emergency. Strong Mayor Powers were specifically created by the province to prioritize building new homes and construction of housing-supportive infrastructure. Responding to a State of Emergency is not a stated purpose or priority under section 284.2.
The implementation of Strong Mayor Powers under the guise of emergency response was unnecessary and demonstrates a lack of confidence in the work of City staff to respond to the State of Emergency. We are grateful to City staff for their response to the crisis, and for their tireless work over the past 11 days to ensure the safety and security of Orillians in the aftermath of the ice storm.
Mayor McIsaac is indicating that his decision to seek Strong Mayor Powers will “define our direction for years to come.” We oppose the use of Strong Mayor Powers as undemocratic and unnecessary.
We request that Mayor McIsaac release the correspondence to Minister Flack requesting Strong Mayor Powers. Given the wording of the Minister’s response, we are concerned that the Minister was under the misapprehension that Orillia had a “vacant Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) position.”
We further call on Mayor McIsaac and the Hon. Minister Flack to rescind Orillia’s designation for Strong Mayor Powers immediately.
Coun. David Campbell
Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford
Coun. Jay Fallis
Coun. Tim Lauer
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)
